Adam Sandler Says He and Jackie Were Meant to Be All Along
Adam Sandler says marrying Jackie was fate, insisting he’d have found her even without Hollywood — and that nothing could have kept them apart.
Adam Sandler picked up a big honor in the desert and then got sentimental about the thing he actually seems proudest of: his marriage. At the Palm Springs International Film Festival, he accepted the Chairman's Award and used the moment to talk about Jackie Sandler, calling their relationship fate. Sweet, very Sandler.
The speech: destiny, bathrooms, and Jackie
During his acceptance speech on Saturday, January 3, Sandler told the room that sometimes he imagines an alternate timeline where comedy didn’t click and he went to work for his dad. Even in that version of his life, he swears he still would have met and married Jackie. The only real change, he joked, would be the house: fewer bathrooms, fewer statues of himself. The delivery was classic, but the sentiment was dead serious.
"That’s destiny. Nothing stops that."
For the record: Adam and Jackie have been married since 2003 and have two daughters, Sunny and Sadie. The man has been consistent about this stuff for years.
The award: Palm Springs gives Sandler its Chairman's Award
The festival handed Sandler its Chairman's Award for his work in the film 'Jay Kelly.' Ahead of the event, festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi basically framed Sandler’s performance as one of his most moving and maybe the best of his career, said it reinforces how versatile and respected he is, and made it clear they were proud to honor him this year. Not bad for the 'Happy Gilmore' guy.
So what is 'Jay Kelly'?
It’s a pretty intriguing combo of talent — the kind of lineup you don’t see every day.
- Cast: George Clooney plays the title role, Jay Kelly. Adam Sandler plays his manager, Ron Sukenick. Laura Dern is their publicist, Liz.
- Filmmakers: Directed by Noah Baumbach, from a script he co-wrote with Emily Mortimer.
- Plot: After his mentor dies, Jay bails on a movie he’s working on and bolts across Europe to reconnect with his estranged daughter, with Ron and Liz trailing alongside.
Yes, Sandler and Clooney teaming up in a Baumbach film about a European search for a lost connection sounds like mad libs, but that’s the project Palm Springs singled out — and the one that got Sandler on stage talking about the thing that matters to him most.